环境污染侵权诉讼中的举证责任分配一般原则及例外

The General Principles and Exceptions of the Distribution of Burden of Proof in Environmental Infringement Actions

最高人民法院《关于民事诉讼证据的若干规定》第2条确立了我国民事举证责任的一般原则。按此原则,在环境污染侵权诉讼中,被告(加害方)就其抗辩事实即法律规定的免责事由承担的举证责任是民事举证责任一般原则的具体化,而被告就其环境污染行为与损害结果之间不存在因果关系承担的举证责任是真正意义上的举证责任一般原则的例外,构成举证责任倒置。

In accordance with the general principles clarified in the Rules Concerning Evidence in Civil Proceedings by the Supreme Court, this paper focuses on the distribution of burden of proof in environmental infringement actions. The infringer's burden of offering the facts of exemption clauses is just the application of the general principles of the distribution of burden of proof, while the infringer's burden of testifying the non-existing causation between infringement and its damage is the application of the exceptions of the distribution of burden of proof, i. e. the conversion of burden of proof.